Krassimir Dokov (Milorad Krstić)

Synopsis
The Hague, The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia:
Two ambitious lawyers face each other in the trial of Milorad Krstić, who’s accused of committing war crimes as a commander in the Bosnian war. The defender, Mikhail Finn, has managed to refute all the accusations against his client. Convinced of Krstic´s guilt, Catherine Lagrange, the prosecutor, summons a young man with incriminating evidence against Krstić.
He claims to have been abandoned by his parents as a child and to have been one of Krstić’s
soldiers. Defender Finn starts to investigate in order to verify the witness’ testimony – and
soon encounters the young man’s family.
Inspired by a true story.
Romane Bohringer (Prosecutor Catherine Lagrange)
Romane Bohringer experienced acting and filmmaking from early childhood on
through her father, the French actor Richard Bohringer. With him, she first appeared on the screen in 1986’s “Kamikaze”. But it was her performance as Miranda
in Shakespeare’s “The Tempest“, directed by Peter Brooks, that first brought her
broader recognition and led to further roles. In 1993, Bohringer was awarded with
the César for her performance in Cyril Collard’s successful “Savage Nights”. This was
the beginning of her cinema career: Bohringer often played tormented but strong
women, as seen in “The Accompanist”, “Mina Tannenbaum” and Gilles Mimouni’s
“The Apartment”. She has appeared alongside actors like Gerard Depardieu in “Colonel Chabert” and Leonardo DiCaprio in “Rimbaud Verlaine”. Her most recent films
include “The Ball of the Actresses” and Gilles Bourdos’ “Renoir”.
Samuel Fröler (Defender Mikhail Finn)
Samuel Fröler originally worked for a clinic specialized in adolescent psychiatry before
he decided to become an actor. He attended the drama school in Göteborg and was
a member of the ensemble of Stockholm’s City Theatre for several years. After Fröler’s
breakthrough with the TV series “Tre Kärkelar”, Ingmar Bergman engaged him to take
the role of the director’s father in Bergman’s autobiographical film “The Best Intentions”(1992). Fröler has starred in many Scandinavian and international films and is
known as the Swedish dubbing actor of Shrek in the homonymous animation series.
Nermina Lukać (Jana)
Nermina Lukać was born in Montenegro and moved to Sweden with her family as a
small child. In 2012, she took the leading role in Gabriela Pichler’s “Eat Sleep Die”, which
celebrated a huge success at various European film festivals and brought Lukač the
Swedish “Gold Bug” award for the “Best Actress” and various other prizes.
Izudin Bajrović (Deyan’s Father)
Izudin Bajrović is member of the National Theater in Sarajevo and is best known to foreign audiences for his appearances in “Halima’s Path”, “Fuse” and “On the Path”.
Ovanes Torosian (Deyan-Miro)
Krassimir Dokov (Milorad Krstić)
Born in Erevan, Armenia. In 2009, Torosian graduated from the Bulgarian National
Academy for Theatre and Film Art as professional actor. Freelance actor, one of the
most wanted faces in contemporary Bulgarian cinema, he’s currently playing in the
National Theatre (Hamlet, The Idiot), as well as in several other theatres across Bulgaria.
He’s the co-founder of the theatrical group ” Replika” (2011).
Krassimir Dokov is one of Bulgaria’s most popular theatre actors. He has worked at the
Dimitrovgrad State theatre, the Haskovo State theatre and has collaborated with the
theatre group SFUMATO. His films include “Letter to America” (2000) and ” Investigation”
(2006) by Iglika Triffonova, ” Christmas Tree Upside Down” (2006) by Ivan Cherkelov and
Vassil Zhivkov, ” Kozel” (2009) by Georgi Dulgerov, „Crayfish” (2009) by Ivan Cherkelov.
Iglika Triffonova
The Director
Iglika Triffonova studied film & TV at the National Academy of Theatre and Film Art in Sofia. Her career began
with a series of documentaries, the first being “Year of
1990” , documenting the year after the fall of the Berlin
wall. Among her other works of this time are “Possible
Distances” (1992), about the distances separating a Bulgarian man and a Turkish woman – called by the critics a
“documentary love story” – and “Murder Stories” (1993),
being the confessions of three men who have committed murder. The film played an important role in forming the public opinion during the debate against the
death penalty held in Bulgarian in the early 90s and had
a strong influence on the themes contained in “The Investigation”, her next award-winning
feature. Triffonova’s films have been screened at numerous international festivals and won
various Bulgarian and international prizes.
The Producers
Rossitsa Valkanova – KLAS Film (Sofia)
Founded in 1995 by former film director Rossitsa Valkanova, KLAS Film has produced some of
the most renowned Bulgarian titles in the past fifteen years such as “Letter To America” (2001)
and “The Investigation” (2007) by Iglika Triffonova, “Christmas Tree Upside Down” (2006) by
Ivan Cherkelov & Vassil Zhivkov, “Shelter” (2010) by Dragomir Sholev. Minority co-producer
of ” Blind” (2007) by Tamar van den Dop, line producer of “The Way I Killed A Saint” (2002) and
other films.
Petra Goedings – Phanta Vision (Amsterdam)
After graduating from the Dutch Film & Television Academy, Goedings established Phanta Vision, an Amsterdam based production company, in 1990. The company focuses on international feature films with a strong cinematic signature. Company (co-)production credits include feature films such as “Blind” (NL/BE/BG) by Tamar van den Dop & “Letter to America” (BG,
HU, NL) by Iglika Triffonova. Both films won various prizes at international film festivals and
were supported by Eurimages.
Ulf Synnerhol – Interlance (Stockholm)
Selective Filmography
“The Investigation” (2006)
“Letter to America” (2001)
“Po patya” (1995)
“Murder Stories” (1993)
Ulf Synnerholm has been involved in numerous Swedish productions and international coproductions. After working for Wegelius Animation, one of the leading animation concept
houses in Europe, he gained further professional experience at AB Svensk Filmindustri and
finally joined Filmlance International AB in 2009. Among his greatest successes are the “Arne
Dahl” series, “Captian Sabbletooth” & the “Petterson & Findus” feature films.
Interview with Iglika Triffonova
Why did you decide to make the film?
More than ten years ago I read an article in a Bulgarian newspaper, which was revealing some facts about a case of the ICTY (International Crime Tribunal for Yugoslavia).
The story touched me deeply. I felt strangely emotional, as if all that had happened
to me, I couldn’t stop thinking about it, trying to step into the shoes of the conflicting
participants in the drama, and I gradually started seeing the characters in a story of my
own. That’s when I gathered enough courage to turn it all into a film.
What do you want to tell your audience?
There is a scene in the film, taking place in the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam where
the invincible football “dream team” of Ajax used to play during the early 70-ties. It’s
a very intimate and a very “Bosnian” scene. The actors Izudin Bajrovic and Nermina
Lukac made it so personal that we, who were around them, were moved to tears. The
film crew consisted of people from ten different nationalities and not everyone under-
stood Bosnian, but everyone felt the pain and the emotion beyond the actors’ performance. I hope the audience will feel the way we did that day. Besides that, we’ve simply
told a story and everything we’d like to say to the people is there, in the film.
Why did you choose this case?
It captured my imagination because I saw in it a strong metaphor of how relative truth
and justice & jurisdiction can sometimes be, not only in everyday life, but also in the
realm of big politics. It’s a story about a human sacrifice, in which an “insignificant person” is consciously sacrificed in the name of the “great purposes” of democracy.
Are those fights in the international administration something usual? Is this case a unique
specificity or are similar cases known?
As the Tribunal has the legal right to classify certain information, it’s difficult for me to
answer the question. I wouldn’t like to speculate on the subject because I’m not conducting an investigation in order to judge somebody. I just made a sincere attempt to
step into the shoes of all my characters and to understand the motives behind their
actions as I’m pretty convinced this is the only way one can learn something about
oneself. I don’t know for sure if there is another parable in the Bible that touches the
matter of human sacrifice as deeply as the one about Abraham and Isaac, but this
biblical story is a revelation that provokes hundreds of generations to reflect on the
meaning of human sacrifices and our right to make them.
Why do you deal with this matter although your country isn’t involved in this case?
This story didn’t happen in my country but it could have happened in it and - what
is even worse – can happen in the future. Both Bosnia and Bulgaria are Balkan countries, so the sparkle which caused the war in Bosnia could cause a fire in Bulgaria as
well. I’m well aware of the human pain inflicted by ethnic separatism, the burden of
unredeemed historical wrongs and the reckless ways in which some modern politicians are taking advantage of this pain. The war in Bosnia and its heavy consequences
are not a local problem: not only Serbians and Bosnians participated in this war, but
some very important European and American politicians also took part in it and made
certain decisions. We are all part of this war and we have to understand it, especially
now. I think that the lessons from the past are contained in the small stories and in the
details because we can’t get them wrong.
What kind of reaction are you expecting from the viewers?
I really wish the audience will dive deep into the story and feel it as a real one. I hope
the people will grow to love the characters or at least sympathize with them. I hope
they will have the feeling of having been present both at the scarce dinner of the Bosnian family in the godforsaken village and the lonely dinner of a Bosnian and a Swede
in a rich home in Amsterdam. I hope, of course, they will consider the existential problems of the characters important and pertaining to all of us.
Was the production difficult? If yes, why?
Was there any input from the actors or was everything already in the script?
The preparation for the film took us almost ten years. It was a serious challenge: we
experienced different kinds of fears, which we were gradually overcoming on every
single stage of the working process. I’m grateful to the entire team who supported
me throughout this journey. The stress of the prep period was the greatest: we had
to shoot in three countries, with time gaps from October to March, with a constantly changing crew consisting of people from ten different nationalities, and we were
working with famous European actors. The producers put their hearts and souls in the
project and that was very important for everyone. In spite of all the difficulties, the
shooting period felt like a celebration, like falling in love. I believe this joyful atmosphere is reflected in the film itself.
My work with the actors in this film was the most important professional experience
I’ve ever had. Together with actors from six different nationalities, belonging to different professional schools, having gone through different working processes and speaking different languages, we had to create a convincing and authentic whole. It was
quite a challenge, but I was really lucky to work with immensely gifted actors. Our
work was strongly based on the script and we had some preliminary conversations
in which we got to know each other and got closer to each other. I think that during
those conversations they gradually started to believe me. Together we made some
small changes to the script, which rendered the lines closer to them. All the actors
put their souls in the characters and adopted their personalities. At some point, I was
forgetting they were pronouncing the lines I’ve written, I just believed them and sympathized with them. That’s real magic.
Rali Ralchev
Hubert Pouille
Ralchev studied and graduated as director of photography from the National Academy of Theatre and Film Art, Sofia. He is member of the European Film Academy, works
as a free lance in Germany and Bulgaria and is without doubt one of Bulgaria’s most
eminent cameramen. Ralchev has shot films such as “Samsara”, “Sneakers” or Viktor
Chuchkov’s “Tilt” and has repeatedly contributed to Triffonova’s oeuvre.
Hubert Pouille (born 1959) is an outstanding Belgium-based production designer. Having graduated in Architecture and the St. Thomas Film School in Brussels, Belgium, he
has more than 40 projects as an Art Director and Production Designer. He is perfectly
suited for the feature project “The Prosecutor, the Defender, the Father and his Son” not
only because his background and skills but also because of his extended experience in
the region (the Award winning “No-man’s Land” and others) and his previous projects
with the production companies KLAS Film (Bulgaria) and PhantaVision (Netherlands).
Director of Photography
Production Designer
Theodosii Spassov
Toma Waszarow
Theodosii Spassov was born on March 4th, 1961. He began his early training on the
kaval – an eight-hole wooden flute – at the Kotel Music School and The Academy of
Music and Dance in Plovdiv/Bulgaria. For over 20 years, Theodosii has toured all over
Europe, Asia, the Middle East, Australia, Canada and United States, presenting his own
unique mixture of traditional folklore with jazz, fusion and classical music. Spassov has
also recorded themes for films by Italian composers Carlos Siliotto and Ennio Morricone, entitled “An Italian Story” and “The Breakout of the Innocent”, and has published
numerous CDs. At home in Bulgaria, Theodosii Spassov is a national figure and musical
hero and internationally, he’s recognized for his innovative style of playing.
Toma Waszarow is a Bulgarian-Polish director, producer and editor who directed awardwinning Bulgarian short films like “The Kiss” (13 min of viewers on Youtube), “Anything
for you”, “Noon” and more. Since 2002, he has also edited many documentaries, short
films, commercials and feature films. In the period 2014-2015, Toma Waszarow worked
as an editor of “The Sinking of Sozopol”, directed by Kostadin Bonev (best Bulgarian film academy award for editing) and “Losers”, directed by Ivaylo Hristov (Golden
George winner at Moscow International Film Festival).
Composer
Editor
The Prosecutor, the Defender, the Father and his Son
Written and directed by Iglika Triffonova
Produced by Rossitsa Valkanova, Petra Goedings and Ulf Synnerholm
Cast
Romane Bohringer … Catherine
Lagrange Samuel Fröler … Mikhail Finn
Nermina Lukać … Jasna
Izudin Bajrović … Deyan’s Father
Ovanes Torosyan … Deyan-Miro
Krassimir Dokov … Milorad Krstić
Crew
Writer & Director … Iglika Triffonova
Director of Photography … Rali Ralchev
Editor … Toma Waszarow
Technical Information
Bulgaria, Netherlands, Sweden 2015; Thriller; 105 minutes; DCP, HDCAM-SR; 5.1 mix;
Original language: Bosnian, English, Swedish; Available with English subtitles
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